


Shared Souls

by Magpie_Crow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26654911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie_Crow/pseuds/Magpie_Crow
Summary: Roman hated soulmates.Okay, he didn’t hatehissoulmates, nor did he hate the idea of soulmates, really. He just. Hated whatever universal joke the soulmate system was playing on him.Because of course, with his luck, he was not only an identical twin, which only happens one in two hundred and fifty births, but he also shared the same soulmates as his twin, which was so statistically unlikely that he couldn’t even find the numbers when he looked it up.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Deceit | Janus, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton (Sanders Sides)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 133





	Shared Souls

Roman hated soulmates.

Okay, he didn’t hate _his_ soulmates, nor did he hate the idea of soulmates, really. He just. Hated whatever universal joke the soulmate system was playing on him.

Because of course, with his luck, he was not only an identical twin, which only happens one in two hundred and fifty births, but he also shared the same soulmates as his twin, which was so statistically unlikely that he couldn’t even find the numbers when he looked it up.

Not that Remus _knew_ , of course. If Roman had his way, Remus would never find out. Remus- Well. Remus deserved a hell of a lot more than life had allotted to him, and Roman wasn’t going to ruin the good thing his twin had going with his soulmates.

It went down like this:

Remus was the older twin, by five minutes, so when he started getting writing on his skin the moment he turned 16, he showed it off to Roman without a second thought. Minutes later, when Roman’s writing started showing, he realized he was getting the same words as Remus. Same words, same handwriting, same colors. 

Blue, indigo, and gold.

He could see Remus writing, but it didn’t show up on his skin. 

Roman went to his closet and pulled on a long sleeved shirt.

“Ro? You good?”

He smiled at his brother. “Yeah, they didn’t write back.”

Roman didn’t lie to Remus often, but. He knew their parents liked him more. He knew that he was the golden child in any situation the twins found themselves in. He didn’t do anything to perpetuate that myth, but with Remus’ PTSD from a kidnapping when he was a child, a lot of people found him… Off-putting.

These were Remus’ soulmates. Roman couldn’t- he couldn’t butt in on that and ruin it for his brother, like he did with everything else in Remus’ life, intentional or no.

So he just. Didn’t write to his soulmates. 

~~

Long sleeves became the norm for him. Remus always asked, but Roman would just shrug and say his soulmate didn’t write him. Which was pretty normal, soulmates weren’t always the exact same age, so it could be a few years. 

And then Purple wrote, and Roman was so excited, because maybe this one would be his, he could have this one thing without ruining his brother’s chances, and-

“Roman! I have another soulmate!”

Roman rolled his sleeve down hastily as Remus barged into the room. His twin stopped and looked chagrinned. 

“Sorry, yours still hasn’t written?”

“Never fear, brother dear! Now, tell me about your new soulmate?”

Remus grinned again and shoved his arm in Roman’s face. “They’re purple!”

Remus deserved to be happy. Roman wouldn’t take this from him, not in a million years.

~~

Roman met Virgil first. It was a fluke, some universal meddling. The one day he thought he could go to the café and study, and it was full to the brim. 

But there was another student, sitting alone at a two-person table, so Roman made his way over.

“Pardon me, may I sit here?”

The other boy looked up, and Roman was immediately struck by his beauty. He had big brown eyes, a sharp jawline, and just barely there freckles peeking out from beneath his emo makeup. He shrugged.

“Go for it.”

Roman sat down and held out a hand. 

“I’m Roman, majoring in theater.”

The other didn’t take it, but he introduced himself nonetheless.

“Virgil. Graphic design.”

“A pleasure to meet you!” 

Virgil didn’t answer, going back to whatever he was doing on his laptop, so Roman took the cue and began his own studying.

He hadn’t even realized a few hours had passed until Virgil stood up and stretched. Roman found his eyes traveling to the small strip of skin that showed between Virgil’s hoodie and his skinny jeans. 

“Same time next week?”

Roman looked up, shocked, only to find Virgil smiling down at him. 

“You aren’t totally unbearable.”

Roman beamed and nodded. Looks like he made a friend!

~~

It was a few months later that Virgil came bouncing in to the café, looking all the world like an excited puppy. He threw himself down in the chair across from Roman and accepted the coffee Roman had gotten for him.

“Guess what?”

“Yeah?”

“I just met one of my soulmates!”

Something inside of Roman shriveled. Right. Soulmates. Most people looked forward to those, and didn’t look into dating outside of their mates. This was fine. It wasn’t like Roman was head over heels for the tall emo or anything. 

Hello heartbreak.

“That’s great!”

Virgil had the grace to look uncomfortable. 

“Sorry, I forgot that you’re not on the best terms with your mate-“

Roman smiled, a little forced, but it was a smile all the same. 

“No worries! I’d love to meet your soulmate!”

“Really?”

Roman nodded, and Virgil turned to wave out the window. Another boy bounded in, much more enthusiastically than Virgil.

“Hi! I’m Patton! Virgil told me all about you on the way over!”

Patton was- Patton was great. He joined their study sessions, and Roman warmed up to him quickly, despite his jealousy. He couldn’t see himself falling in love with the bubbly fellow, not like he had with Virgil, but he still enjoyed the other’s company. 

~~

Then he made the mistake of bringing his two friends home for a movie night.

It was fine, Remus was supposed to be out for the night. Not that Roman didn’t want Remus meeting his friends, but- well. Roman was a little salty about the whole soulmate thing, even if it wasn’t Remus’ fault. 

It was going well! They were watching Onward, per Patton’s request, when, right at the climax, Remus burst into the living room, dragging another boy behind him.

“ROMAN,” he shrieked. “I FOUND ONE OF MY SOULMATES!”

All three boys on the couch startled, and Roman felt a stab of jealousy course through him. _Their_ soulmates. 

“Oh, you have guests. Hi! I’m Remus!” Remus bounced over to shake hands with Virgil and Patton, and the two of them stared at his exposed arms.

“You-“ Virgil began, but Patton was already launching himself at Remus for a hug. 

“You’re our soulmate! We found you!”

A dark, ugly thing reared its head in Roman’s chest, and he swallowed it down. 

“Well then! I’ll just- leave the four of you be. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of a soulmate meeting!” He smiled his best smile, nodded at the bewildered looking stranger in the room, and went up to his bedroom. 

He made sure the door was locked before he started sobbing into his pillow.

~~

When he met Janus, it didn’t take long to fall into bed with the other boy. Roman was sad, heartbroken, and oh so lonely. 

Remus hadn’t _flaunted_ his relationship with their soulmates, per say. It just seemed like not a day went by that one of them wasn’t in the house, hanging out with Remus and being cuddly. Especially Patton and Logan. Virgil kept his distance, but that was just the way he was. 

So Roman had gone out looking for something to comfort him, and he found it in Janus, a snarky guy in long sleeves, who preferred having sex with the lights off because of his vitiligo. 

“I want to meet my soulmates on my own terms,” he said one night as they lay curled up together. “I’d rather recognize them than have them recognize me.”

Roman understood. He wore long sleeves so he wouldn’t be recognized at all. 

“I’ve met all but one of my soulmates,” he admitted softly. 

Janus pulled away a little, and Roman could see the question gleaming in his eyes in the low light.

“They don’t know. They don’t even know they have me as a soulmate.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve never written. The universe screwed me over and gave me the same mates as my twin, and he- he deserves them more than I do.”

Janus made a sympathetic noise, and closed the gap between their lips. 

Roman felt the same way for Janus that he did for Virgil, and the thought scared him. 

But he wasn’t letting this go. Janus was his, until he met his soulmates, and Roman couldn’t be happier.

~~

As it turns out, he could be a lot sadder. 

Janus texted him the day they were supposed to meet up.

**DoubleD:** Met one of my soulmates. They know the others. I’m going to meet them tonight.

Roman didn’t answer. 

He decided to spend time with Remus instead. As far as he knew, none of their soulmates would be coming over, and he hadn’t had quality time with his brother in a while. 

Roman had just blue-shelled Remus in MarioKart when the door opened and Patton bolted through. 

“Remus! We found yellow!”

Roman looked up, and, following after Virgil and Logan was-

Janus. 

They made eye contact, and Roman felt all the blood drain from his face.

“I- I have to go.”

He dropped his controller and ran, shouldering roughly past all of his- Remus’ soulmates.

Once he was on the street, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

_“What’s up, bitch?”_

“Remy- I- I need somewhere to stay.”

_“You don’t sound so good.”_

“I don’t feel so good.”

_”Come on over and spill the tea, gurl.”_

“Thanks, Remy.”

His cousin was the best. 

~~~~

“Roman?” Remus rushed out to look for his brother, but Roman was already out of sight. He turned and smiled at the newcomer. “Hey, sorry about that! My brother has issues with soulmates because his hasn’t written.”

“I- I thought they didn’t get along?” Virgil looked quizzically at him. “Like, Ro said they were fighting, or something.”

The newcomer, jeez, Remus was going to have to get his name, looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“Roman. Roman Prince.”

“Oh, you know him? I’m his twin, Remus!”

“Janus. He- he told me he’d never written to his soulmates. That they didn’t know he existed.”

Remus laughed. “Why would he do that? Roman _loves_ the idea of soulmates, the little romantic. Ha! Can’t spell romantic without Roman, amiright?”

“He said it was because he shared them with his twin.”

Remus stopped stock still. Roman wouldn’t- He wouldn’t be- not _that_ self-sacrificing. Would he? 

Goddammit. 

“Where is he.” Virgil sounded- angry? Hurt? Heartbroken?

Remus shrugged. He wasn’t sure what to do in this situation either.

~~~~

It took a few days for Roman to be willing to leave Remy and Emile’s house, and even then he didn’t go far. Just to a nearby park. His cousin and his soulmate were being extra kind to him, even if they didn’t know all of the details. He wasn’t sure how to explain it to them. 

‘Hey I’m in love with two of my soulmates but they’re Remus’ soulmates too and I don’t want to take that away from him?’

No, that sounded. Like something. 

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice someone sit on the bench next to him.

“Are you familiar with the concept of platonic soulmates?”

Startled, he looked up at Logan.

“Apparently not. Statistically, in large soulmate groups, one or two of the individuals have platonic bonds, as opposed to romantic ones. For instance, in our group, only Patton and I are romantically bonded to Remus.”

Roman stood up abruptly. He felt like he was being made fun of, somehow. 

“Both Virgil and Janus have indicated a romantic interest in you, and in some small part, each other.”

“Don’t-“ Roman paused. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say.

“It is something you need to hear. Virgil is, and I quote, ‘super jealous that Janus got to kiss you first’.”

Roman walked away. Logan didn’t try to stop him.

~~

“Roman. Would you sit down with me for a minute?”

Roman sat gingerly down on the couch next to Emile. The other had never asked him anything of the sort.

“So… Remus called earlier. While you were out.”

Fuck. Roman started to stand up, but Emile put a hand on his shoulder and pressed him back into the couch. 

“I’m not judging you, Roman. I understand why you did what you did. But it is unfair, you know?”

Roman shook his head. 

“It’s unfair to _you_ , Roman, and it’s unfair that you didn’t let your soulmates make their own choices. I understand what you were trying to do, but. You need to go back and face your problems, even though they’re hard. What does a prince do?”

Roman sighed. 

“Face every challenge with courage and honesty.”

“That’s right!” Emile beamed at him. “Now, we aren’t kicking you out, but you need to go face your challenges. It’s only going to get worse, the longer you let things fester.”

~~

Roman gulped, looking up at his front door and feeling all kinds of overwhelmed. He didn’t have his key, so he would have to knock, and- 

That was daunting. 

But this was a challenge, and Emile was right. It was time to face it with courage. 

He knocked on the door. 

Almost immediately it was flung open and he had an armful of Remus. 

“You shoulda told me” Remus muttered into his collar. “You deserve to be happy too, RoRo.”

He pulled Roman inside, where all four of their soulmates were waiting. Janus came up to him immediately, grabbed his hand, and kissed it softly. Virgil was right behind him, and he wrapped himself bodily around Roman.

Remus went to sit with Logan and Patton, and-

Huh.

Maybe this _would_ work out okay. 

Roman loved soulmates.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! 
> 
> I set up a Discord server! <https://discord.gg/gtWgvQ4>  
> Join me to talk about my writing and stuff!
> 
> Find more on tumblr @we-are-fam-ily


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